


The Hellbeast

by sbuggbot



Category: SteamWorld Quest (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Don't copy to another site, Father Figures, Feels, Found Family, Gen, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2019-06-29
Packaged: 2020-05-18 11:24:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19333561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sbuggbot/pseuds/sbuggbot
Summary: Post-Quest, our heroes were going about their business and daily lives when an earthquake strikes and an ominous plume of smoke begins to rise in the distance...





	1. Quake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up, I guess. Things are going to get intense...

“Ugh, why isn’t this working right?!” Galleo growled, slumping backward but still keeping his hand up. There was a green glow around it.

“Healing spells aren’t easy, especially if you don’t use magic normally,” Orik said. “That being said, you’re a natural.”

Galleo raised a brow, genuinely surprised. “Really?”

“Yes, I imagine that you’ll even surpass me before not too long. You’ll have to learn from the Merchant.”

Tarah popped up from behind the couch. “And then Emme’s gonna complain about how you didn’t teach him the right way,” she said with a smirk.

“Even if he doesn’t get the technique perfect from me, Galleo should have a good grasp of the basics,” Orik replied. “It’s a start, and he’s going to have some practice actually doing it.”

After the incident where Copernica’s lifespark had nearly been shattered, Galleo had been wanting to learn healing magic so he wouldn’t get caught in another situation where he couldn’t do anything like that again. Orik was more than willing to be both a mentor and a practice dummy, so to speak. The old injury on his shoulder that cost him most of the use in his right arm was beyond any further healing or repairing, but using healing magic on it did make it hurt less (and gave him better mobility in that arm, if only for a little while).

Galleo had caught on remarkably fast. Orik himself hadn’t gotten to this point until after several weeks’ practice. He suspected that some quirk of Galleo’s lifespark gave him an advantage or natural talent. He wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case based on his personality.

Tarah climbed over the couch back and flopped onto the cushion, starting to play with some trinket she had hopefully acquired legally. Orik knew better than to ask questions he didn’t really want to know the answer to. Thayne appeared from behind the couch too and went around it the long way to sit down. He didn’t say anything; he just wanted to watch.

Just like that, the light around Galleo's hand winked out. “Dammit!” he hissed.

Orik fixed his yukata and adjusted the way his lame arm was settled against him. “Don't be too discouraged,” he said. “You're doing really well at this. It's just time for a break.”

Galleo started grumbling to himself. This prompted Benji to hop onto his head and begin trying to groom the blue coils on his head, making little twittering noises the entire time. It was both funny to watch and endearing, and utterly impossible to stay mad with.

“Benji says you need to do a better job washing your head,” Thayne said with a little grin.

“Evidently!” he said, giggling. He reached up to scratch the little bird's head. “Thank you, Benji.” He got a satisfied chirp in response.

“Keep in mind that healing magic comes easier in times of need,” Orik said. “So I wouldn't worry about it failing you when--Tarah, what do you have?”

“A chicken.” It was most certainly _not_ a chicken and was not even remotely like a chicken. Judging by her tone, she was well aware of that, however.

Orik sighed. “Tarah…”

“Okay, I don't know what it is, I just found it in one of the drawers on Galleo's workbench.” She held the doodad up. “It's fun to play with, though.”

“It's a gyroscope,” Galleo said with a hint of annoyance as he took it back, “and I wish you wouldn't go through my stuff.”

“You're not special, I go through everyone else's stuff, too.”

Galleo made an unintelligible noise in surprise and Orik facepalmed. “Tarah, it's rude to go through other people's things.”

“It's fun, though,” she said, smiling as she thought about what she’d read in Copernica's diary. (Well, the parts she could read--some of it was written in alchemist's script and was illegible to her.)

“Please be respectful of their privacy,” Orik said, sounding tired.

"Sure, whatever you say,  _Dad_ ," she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Orik didn't bother trying to respond to that. “Thayne, do you go through people's stuff, too?”

Thayne folded his ears back and shook his head wordlessly. Orik spent a moment considering the veracity of his response before deciding it wasn't really in Thayne's nature.

There was a deafening CRACK and the entire house shook. Everything got knocked off the shelves. “I thought earthquakes weren't common in this part of the country?” Orik hollered over the noise. He promptly lost his balance despite being seated and faceplanted, unable to catch himself on that side.

“They aren't?” Galleo shouted back as he braced himself against the floor. In all his years living in Goosebucket, he had _never_ experienced an earthquake.

The quaking stopped as suddenly as it started. The house was a mess now but it was still stable at least. No one was (seriously) hurt, either, fortunately.

“That was weird…” Thayne sat up and looked out. “Wait, what's going on outside?”

The group of four crowded around the window. There was a concerningly large column of smoke on the horizon.

“...Guess we ought to go check that out,” Galleo said, punching the palm of his hand with his fist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finished this fic so I think I'm gonna do daily updates. (Dunno what time exactly, however... I'll figure it out.)


	2. Hoist by His Own Petard

The group of four ran full-pelt down the path, towards the ominous column of smoke. Part of the way there, Thayne spoke up and pointed out two figures--Armilly and Copernica. They were coming from a different direction but appeared to have the same target.

Still running, Galleo cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed, “ **OI!!** ” in their direction.

Armilly heard and looked in their direction. After pointing them out to Copernica, and she waved back and shouted “ **HEY!!!** ” as loud as she could. (Loud enough that Copernica flinched and covered her auditors, but Armilly either didn’t notice or didn’t care.)

Both groups turned towards each other so they’d meet up before they reached the plume of smoke. Copernica bent over and put her hands on her knees, panting. “Oh, good, there you guys are!” Several more gasps, and she straightened back up. “That saves us the trouble of fetching you.”

“What happened? There was an earthquake back home.”

“We’re still trying to figure that out,” Copernica said. The full party of six started running again. “I’ve got a feeling there’s some messed-up alchemy involved, though…”

“Oh no…” Orik muttered. He was all too aware of what could be accomplished by abusing alchemy.

“Hey, it can’t be worse than the Necronomicog, right?” Armilly asked.

Copernica grimaced. “Technically, you’re right, but....”

“The Necronomicog likely did push the limits with what is possible with alchemy. But that’s a very high metric for ‘worst case scenario’.”

“Just because it won’t decimate the entire biosphere doesn’t mean it can’t be extremely dangerous.” Copernica pushed up her glasses.

There was a drop-off that led down to the forest. Looked like the smoke was coming from down there, further inwards. After taking a moment to absorb the situation, Armilly shouted, “Onward!” and slid down the slope.

“Whoop, there she goes…” Galleo said.

Before she could take off into the forest, Copernica shouted, “Milly, wait!”

“What?” She stopped and looked up at Copernica.

She slid down the slope, closely followed by the others. “Something’s really wrong here, I can feel it.” The raw fear in her voice was enough to get through to the knight, thankfully. Copernica just had that _sense_ when it came to alchemy misuse--and not just because necromancy and its closely-related fields made her itchy. “Please, we all need to be careful.”

Thayne clutched his dagger. “I think I feel it too…” he said in his soft voice. He looked to Tarah, not quite sure of himself.

She just shrugged. “I can’t really use magic so I can’t tell.” She could sense that something was definitely bothering Thayne, though, and communicated as much to him in their own little language of sorts. The validation brought him some relief.

“Someone’s coming, everyone hide!”

A steambot--an alchemist, judging by his outfit--passed by. The group only caught a brief glimpse of the guy, but it was enough for Copernica’s eyes to widen. “Scrap…” she hissed.

“Did you know this guy or something?” Tarah asked once he was out of earshot.

“N-not very well.” Copernica shook her head. “He was a grad student when I was just a freshman. He had a reputation on campus, though...”

“What sort of reputation?” Orik asked.

“Wicked smart but absolutely nuts. He got kicked out because he kept breaking the Alchemist’s Code. According to...uh--” she paused, trying to decide how to phrase the next part. “--my Professor...the final straw was his proposed thesis. It was so flamboyantly against the Code that someone on the Board fainted.”

“What, really?” Galleo blurted out. “I know most alchemists aren’t that adventurous, but wow.”

“Well, according to Her, at least. She might’ve been ragging on them, now that I think about it...” She shook her head. “Whatever, my point is we need to take this seriously. He has no regard for the consequences of his experiments.”

The party moved onward, on high alert. Normally, this part of the forest was inhabited with creatures both friendly and unfriendly, but today? It was dead silent, seemingly empty. It unnerved Orik so deeply that he started growling--at least until Galleo pointed it out to him. He coughed, made a disjointed apology, and stopped after that.

Following the magic-attuned members’ senses, the party reached what was presumably the source of the disruptions. There was a rocky wall not too far from here, and while the tree canopy was as thick as the rest of the forest, there were fewer trees here. Fewer trees meant more space, more space for a fight, or more space for an alchemist with a...creature? It was no Behemoth, but there definitely was nothing natural about it.

Orik tensed up and gripped his katana. “A hellbeast. Horrid things, I prayed I’d never see one again.” He trembled. After taking a deep breath to calm himself, he added, “It would take an entire team of knights from Lux Ultima to take down one of these.”

“Yikes, and he thinks it’s his pet,” Copernica said, hugging her grimoire to her chest.

Indeed, the fool appeared to be under the impression that he’d be able to order the hellbeast around like it was a gigantic puppy. It responded to his words by clawing at him.

“No! I summoned you, you’re supposed to _obey me_!” The alchemist stomped his foot in a manner not unlike an unruly toddler.

Unfortunately for the foolish intellectual, twisted alchemic constructs were not bound by such rules. It roared in a fury that was probably only surpassed by the Behemoth itself (or perhaps a pirate captain scorned) and ripped the unsuspecting brat to shreds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, there we go, here's some excitement for ya! Also I'm not the most creative monster-namer but that isn't important


	3. Uh Oh

After destroying its summoner, the hellbeast surveyed the area and screeched when it discovered the heroes. Existing within twenty or so feet of it was provocation enough; this territory belonged to the beast now as far as it was concerned. Trespassers would be removed from both the area and their mortal coil on the spot.

The party sprung into action with the sort of teamwork that came together after fighting many battles together. But despite their best efforts, the beast didn’t seem to be all that fazed by the team’s blows. If anything it just got angrier, especially when Galleo kept absorbing its attacks and guarding the rest of the party. The fact that it was smaller and more mobile than the Behemoth only made it harder to fight...

With little warning, it lunged for Tarah and Thayne, raising its claws. They sparked and crackled with an energy unfamiliar to the majority of the party. Except for one…

The next few seconds seemed to crawl by with how much happened during them.

An old memory resurfaced and Orik recognized the attack. There was no way that the twins would be able to dodge or counter it; the attack was too wide-hitting and their little bodies weren’t strong enough. Numerous scenarios and mental images that Orik didn’t need right now flitted through his head, not a single one of them favorable…

 _“No!”_ Orik dashed in front of them and took the brunt of the strike head-on, giving Tarah and Thayne enough time to move. He resisted the attack as much as he could, getting pushed backward in the dirt a bit as he pushed against the hellbeast with his blade. It wasn’t easy, holding up his katana with only one arm, but he was doing it.

“Orik, wait!” Copernica cried. “You can't just--”

Ultimately the attack was too strong for him to handle. The tension in his arm let up for a split second, enough to make his guard shift ever so slightly. The crack in his metaphorical shield was enough. In a massive, blinding recoil of energy, Orik was flung backward with a pained and fearful yelp. He landed on the ground like a limp ragdoll.

“--absorb...its...attacks…” She finished. Hellbeasts just powered through blocks, even if the recoil temporarily stunned them--the other combatant was usually left worse off. It was one of the few things she knew about the things. Thinking about it a little, she realized he probably knew that...

Orik didn’t get up.

Or even move.

“D...Dad?” Tarah asked.

No response.

Galleo went over to heal him, but once he was there, his hands glowed green for only a moment before it stopped. He shook his head. He couldn't find his lifespark. Nothing he could do, not without the sort of dark, twisted magic that gave Copernica a rash.

“Oh, no…” Copernica whispered.

“Scrap!” Armilly swallowed hard and tightened her grip on her sword, more determined than ever. “We need to kill this thing before anyone else dies!”

* * *

In the rebuilt Guild club, Gilgamech noted that Orik had left his fox mask behind. Again. After thinking about how possessive Orik used to be over that mask in particular, he brushed it off and went back to trying to clean stuff up from the earthquake. Injuries from his last dance with the Behemoth had forced him into retiring from heroic duties for good.

Gilgamech turned back around and saw that the mask was gone without a trace. He was the only one in the room, so someone else couldn't have walked off with it…

Baffled, he raised a finger and stared at the spot where the mask was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well crap


	4. Broken-Hearted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)

Tarah stood there, staring at Orik’s motionless body and shuddering. She hadn’t ever felt this _sad_. Usually, she leaned towards anger when she was upset; feeling this level of grief was totally new to her. (And completely unwelcome at that). Tarah couldn’t process it; she just remained totally still aside from the virtual rivers of tears flowing down her face. She swallowed hard. This couldn't be happening...

Thayne, on the other hand, began hyperventilating. Then he threw his head back and he screamed. He screamed as loud as he possibly could as balls of arcane energy formed around him before flying towards the hellbeast. He screamed like the broken-spirited child he was and poured his very being into attacking the beast and avenging the ‘bot he’d grown to see as a father figure.

The other three heroes pushed their feelings aside for now and doubled down on their efforts. It was do or die.

After a while, Coperncia stole a glance at Thayne during a brief lull in the action. He was still going, wisps of arcane energy swirling around him as he screamed and sent orb after orb at the beast with no sign of slowing down. Sure, he was doing a lot of damage, but such an evocation was physically and mentally exhausting, especially done repeatedly without pause. How wasn’t he slowing down…?

...Wait a second.

Thayne was having a spell surge, she realized. It could happen with any magic user under enough stress or intense enough emotions, but it was virtually impossible to trigger on command. Every atom of his being, every spark of energy inside of him, was being channeled into casting. Undoubtedly it was fueled by the grief he felt. With as little control as Thayne had over himself right now, he could easily exhaust himself. Fatally.

“Thayne, slow down!” Copernica yelled, dodging a fireball from the beast. “You can’t cast from your life force forever!”

Her words fell on deaf ears. Even if he did happen to hear her over his own voice, he didn’t care right now.

“Please! If only for Tarah…”

Upon hearing her name, Tarah snapped back to her senses and looked around. She laid eyes on her brother at the exact moment she registered the _weakness_ in his spirit right now, the fact that if he didn’t stop _soon_ that he’d---

\--- **No**! She couldn’t lose him too...

Tarah lunged forward and tackled him to the ground in a tight hug. The surge ended immediately, Thayne shuddering and gasping for breath. As she sat back up with him in her arms, he went totally limp. But he was still breathing and his body still thrummed with life, that’s what was important to her in that moment. And she wanted to keep it that way. “GALLEO!!” she screeched.

After requesting (and receiving) cover from Copernica, he charged over there. He slid across the ground as he got close, stopping a little bit past where the twins were sitting. After sitting back up, he carefully picked up Thayne and cradled him in one arm. Concerned, Benji hopped down and settled on Thayne’s middle. The little ‘bot had definitely exhausted himself with that spell surge, but he was stable and wouldn’t die if left alone. A little boost definitely wouldn’t hurt, though.

Galleo let Tarah climb onto his lap (not wanting to be separated from her brother in a time like this) and began doing a soft heal on Thayne. It wouldn’t bring him back to full speed--Galleo wasn’t _that_ good at healing yet--but he’d probably wake back up sooner with this.

He had just finished up a healing “cycle” as he liked to think of it when Armilly shouted, “Really could use another set of hands here--AGH!” She got cut off by an improperly-dodged attack. Her pauldron took the brunt of the blow but she could definitely feel that arm tingling from getting struck.

“Scrap,” Galleo hissed, letting Tarah off his lap. “I’ve gotta go before the girls get killed, guard Thayne...” He put him down next to Tarah, shoved Benji in his pocket for safekeeping (the bird making an indignant squeaking) and dashed back to the other two.


	5. Internal Discussion

Orik wasn’t exactly sure what had happened. One moment he was trying to protect Tarah and Thayne, and in the next, he was sitting...here. “Here” was an empty, seemingly endless expanse. The ground beneath him was a white light, while everything else beyond the horizon appeared as an inky black void to him. He had the suspicion that he had died.

“So this is it, then,” he said to no one in particular.

“Indeed,” said a voice. There was no physical body it came from, rather, it came from every direction at once and from within Orik himself at the same time. “It appears your time has come.”

“Rather unfortunate, I was hoping it would be at a later date.” His gaze turned downcast. “I still have responsibilities and obligations in this world. Such as taking care of Tarah and Thayne, for example.”

“Your time could have been later, but your actions today determined your fate. It is time for you to pass on. Tarah and Thayne will grow and learn from this event. It is the natural order of things, a coming of age.”

Orik shook. “...I disagree.”

“What.” It was more of a command to explain himself than a question.

“I. disagree.” Orik repeated, as gently as a cut from his blade. “Tarah and Thayne have suffered enough in their past. Do you truly think that losing their father figure would do them any good? For Thayne to gain the confidence to reach out to me, only for me to not be there? For Tarah to slowly learn to trust and open up to me, only for me to disappear on her?” He clenched his fists. “Is this what you consider a ‘learning experience’?”

The white faded from the ground, leaving the place both endlessly black but yet somehow still lit enough for Orik to see just fine. “You’re really going to challenge me?” The Voice boomed. Orik could feel its anger in the air.

Orik jumped to his feet. He was fuming now. (literally!) “Yes, because your twisted logic doesn’t sit right and I have things to do. Let me go.”

“There is no use in bending fate!” By the Voice’s command, dark vines sprung from the ground and wrapped themselves around Orik’s arms and legs, preventing him from moving. 

“ **\--!** ” Even if he couldn’t move around much, that didn’t stop him from writhing about.

“These are the bonds that constrain you, there is no point in fighting them,” the Voice said. “You’ve set your fate.”

“To hell with that!” Orik roared, stomping his foot and swinging his arms down. Several of the vines snapped in yellow flashes. “My children need me, I’m going back.” He broke himself away from the rest of the vines. “And I won’t let you stop me.” 

With that, Orik turned on his heel and walked out a bright doorway that he had seemingly willed into existence.

* * *

Orik's eyes snapped open and he took in a sharp breath. His hand scrabbled in the dirt and found the mask laying next to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, screw Newbery Medal Deaths...
> 
> So evidently the bulk of this fic is in the last two chapters. I guess that's just how it goes.


	6. Second Wind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well the last chapter was more exciting to my readers than I was expecting. I guess that happens when you're so wrapped up in your own writing, you don't really think about how it looks to fresh eyes.

Tarah huddled near the tree, clinging onto her brother like it was the end of the world. Thayne wasn’t going to die from exhaustion, especially after Galleo gave him a little boost, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get killed by something else. He couldn’t defend himself while he was unconscious.

His life was in Tarah’s hands and she knew it. The remaining three party members had to focus every bit of attention they had on containing the monster. Any lapse in focus could spell disaster. The only one that could focus on protecting her and her brother was Tarah herself.

And she was TERRIFIED.

Her entire body felt numb. She couldn’t even reach for her axe, let alone swing it effectively right now. That would involve letting go of Thayne, and her hands were locked together around his middle, unwilling to relax for anything.

Tarah heard Armilly curse and suddenly the hellbeast was facing her.

This was it… Tarah squeezed her brother tight and braced herself, hiding her face against his hood. Her body was too wracked with fear to do anything else. _I’m so sorry, Thayne…_ she whispered. They were both going to die and it was her fault.

...A blur of red and white appeared in her peripheral and struck the beast before it could strike her. It flinched and roared with agony. Tarah sorted her nerves out enough to sneak a peek at her unknown saviour. No one in the party wore those colors.

She was met with the tall figure of a samurai, garbed in brilliantly white and red robes that were flowing in the wind. His form radiated with energy as he held his sword in both hands. He turned, revealing a traditional Kitsune mask complete with the red markings. “Get the kids out of here!” a familiar voice ordered, pointing away from the fray.

It was Orik, there was no question about it. Tarah felt her breath catch in her throat as a lump. She couldn’t tear her eyes from him, even after Galleo picked up both her and Thayne. She wasn’t sure if this was reality or not.

“You will regret your summoning,” Orik said.

Emboldened by his second wind, he charged head-on at the beast and slashed at it with several fluid strikes before sheathing his weapon and running past it. Encouraged and inspired by Orik’s show, Armilly shouted with bravado and struck at the beast too while Copernica put up yet another barrier field. Then Orik was back in the thick of the fray. He pushed his mask up and dashed around the beast in a blur. With his renewed energy, Orik took down the hellbeast almost single-handedly.

As it fell apart, Orik’s lame arm went limp as a noodle and he stumbled backwards until he found a tree to slump against. He slid down to a seated position, the colors on his mask fading back to its normal yellow.

Tarah squirmed and kicked until Galleo loosened his grip on her enough for her to jump down. Stumbling a little bit, she made a beeline for Orik but stopped a little bit in front of him, hesitating. Was he going to disappear the moment she reached out to touch him? She was afraid to go forward.

He raised an arm in an invitation to hug. Tarah all but collapsed against Orik, clinging onto his robe with a death grip. She hiccupped and shook as she kept pulling on his robe as if she was trying to tether him down.

Starting to cry himself, Orik lowered his arm and hugged Tarah tight. “Shhh, I’m here now,” he choked out, stroking her back. “Not going anywhere.”

Thayne began to stir in Galleo’s arms, so he set him down next to Orik as well. After some careful compromising with his bad arm, he hugged both twins close. Thayne leaned against Orik and started weakly sobbing while Tarah held onto him for dear life and broke down into loud, heart-wrenching wailing.

Orik found himself unable to control his own tears as he hugged Tarah and Thayne as tightly as he could manage. “I’m so sorry for leaving like that, I promise I won’t let it happen again…”

Armilly, Galleo, and Copernica joined in on the hug as soon as they could and the six just stayed like that until the tears began to let up and the wailing quieted down (although it was more because Tarah strained her voice on her part). Then Armilly started squirming and jumped up to her feet.

“Uhhh.”

“That...was...INCREDIBLE!” Armilly squealed. “We all thought you were done for, then you were suddenly there when I thought that thing was going to break loose and get Tarah and Thayne too! Only you were stronger than ever and took it down almost by yourself! I don't even know how that works!”

“Armilly, are you alright?”

“NO!” she barked. Her voice began cracking. “I’m feeling like 20 different feelings at once now because I shelved everything while all hell broke loose.” She paused to gasp for breath and flopped onto the ground. “Please help I’m a wreck and I think my heart may seize up from pumping so hard. Do heart-cogs break from that? I really hope they don’t break from that.”

Galleo put a big hand on top of her head. “Easy…try to get your breathing under control.” As he helped Armilly regain control of her breathing, Copernica flopped against her with no intent of getting up soon. She put a hand to her chest and felt her own heart fluttering from stress.

They’d survived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well dang as if dragging yourself out of death alone wasn't enough...


	7. Heart-to-Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't kill me Tarah, it's time to repay my fluff debt.

The trip back was surprisingly simple; the exhausted heroes had just begun their trek back when they ran into their Merchant friend and her wagon. At this point nobody even bothered trying to question how utterly convenient it was. Everyone was too tired and they needed Emme’s healing skills anyway--Galleo had utterly exhausted his own abilities for the time being.

Not to mention that getting a lift back to town was nice. Nobody was really up to walking all the way back after all that.

That night while he was laying in bed, Orik became aware of the fact that he had a visitor. Rolling over, he saw Tarah standing in the doorway, looking at him. Usually when one of the twins woke him up, it was Thayne. “What is it, Tarah?”

“Um…” Tarah couldn’t make herself say the right words or even think of what those words were. She wrung her hands and looked down at the floor.

“Do you want to hop up here with me?” he asked, scooting over a bit. He knew Tarah had trouble asking for comfort when she needed or wanted it, that she was usually too shy or embarrassed to say so aloud. Asking the question for her usually worked.

Tarah nodded and climbed up onto the bed with him. After sitting there for a moment, she scooted up to Orik’s side and clung onto him. She hid her face in his side and trembled imperceptibly.

Orik settled his weak arm around her in a loose hug and rubbed her head with his other hand. There was little question as to why she was upset and wanted to see him right now. It didn’t hurt to ask, though. “Shaken from earlier?”

“Mm-hmm,” she hummed with a nod.

“I’ll admit, I’m still pretty shaken up, too. Where’s Thayne?”

Somehow Tarah managed to snuggle even closer to him. “Galleo wanted to check over him before he went to bed. Armilly’s passed out and I think Copernica went to bed, too.” She didn’t say anything else, just quietly basked in his presence for a while. Sometimes you just needed a hug and reassurance that the person was still there. Orik decided not to force her to talk or anything; she’d speak up when she was ready.

...She actually did have something she wanted to ask, but at that moment, Tarah couldn’t decide if she wanted to refer to him as “Orik” or “Dad”. So instead she just went, “...um?” and hoped that was enough to get his attention.

“Hm?” Despite his efforts to stay awake he’d already started to doze off. “Yes, Tarah?”

A pause while she put the words together. “Why’d you step in like that? Even if you knew you’d come back?”

“I didn’t,” Orik said, shaking his head. “All I knew at that moment was that I had to protect you two, whatever the consequences.”

“Even if you died?”

“I wasn’t even thinking about that, I just knew that if one of you died, then the survivor wouldn’t be able to handle the grief... I couldn’t stand by and let that happen to you two.” He looked down. “I would have never forgiven myself, either.”

“I…I still don’t wanna lose you…” she mumbled slowly. It felt really weird--almost dangerous--for her to admit it, but she really cared about Orik. Behind her brother, he was probably her second-favorite person. She hadn't even been this close with Hawker Jim...

“And I didn’t want to leave you two. Neither of you deserves to go through that...” His voice shook at the thought. He was so determined to be there for them, he pulled himself out of death...

“Y-you went down, and-and then Thayne almost…” A little sob escaped Tarah and she scrubbed at the tears in her eyes. “I thought I was gonna--gonna lose both of you.” Despite her efforts, she could not stop her breath from shaking or her shoulders from twitching. Orik hugged her tighter, which only caused her to cry harder (and made her double down on her efforts to stop it).

“Tarah, let yourself feel. It’s alright to cry, I promise.” His own voice shook but he made no attempt to hide it; he just resumed petting her head. “It's perfectly natural.”

Stubborn as ever, Tarah rubbed her eyes and shook her head. She didn’t like crying and she’d avoid it if she could. “I’m not a baby,” she groused.

“You might not be, but you’re still a child. Even if you’ve been forced out of that role prematurely,” he said softly. “And even most adults would struggle to cope with what happened earlier.”

Tarah sat up looked away unhappily, unable to come up with a way to respond to that. Things couldn’t hurt her if she didn’t let them, she had always reasoned. She hugged herself with a little whimper as more tears rolled down her cheeks. Her tried-and-true method wasn’t working here.

The sight nearly made Orik’s heart break right then. “C’mere,” he murmured as he raised his arm for Tarah to slide under. She settled against him once again and started to let herself cry. “There you go, let it out…it’s okay now.”

It was sort of like a dam breaking--once Tarah started to weep, she couldn’t make herself stop. Unlike earlier though, this was less of a raging flood and more of a controlled leaking. She trembled and clung onto Orik like he’d disappear if she were to let go. All she could do now was to ride out the storm and let Orik comfort her.

And comfort her Orik did. He hugged Tarah as tightly as he could and very gently petted her head and rubbed her ears as she broke down, murmuring soft comforts to her the entire time. He’d be the pillar of support she needed to lean on right now, it was what he was here for.

She wound up crying herself to sleep, the poor thing. Orik realized he was definitely stuck now; Tarah was a fairly light sleeper and she was using him as a pillow. Combined with the fact that she had a handful of his sleep shirt balled up in her fist, he wouldn’t be able to get up without disturbing her.

He didn’t really mind, though.

After a while there was a soft tapping on the door. Orik's head shot up and he went “hmm?”

Galleo nudged the door open, a sleeping Thayne in his arms. Aside from the dark stains under his eyes from crying, the little bot almost looked peaceful. “Hey, uh---sorry to bother you,” Galleo said as he walked in. “I just---he fell asleep, and I figured---ugh, whatever. Here.” Words were hard.

Orik couldn't stop a relieved smile from crossing his face at the sight of Thayne. “That's fine, thank you Galleo.”

Very carefully, Galleo laid Thayne on the bed. He woke up just enough to scoot closer to Orik and fell back asleep. The physical contact with both twins at once caused something to give way emotionally in Orik. He squeezed his eyes shut and started crying.

As if this wasn’t awkward enough for Galleo. “Uh, you okay?”

“It's--been a long day,” he said after a moment. “Very tired and feeling a lot at once.” Orik genuinely couldn’t tell if he was happy or sad or what, just that he was feeling a LOT and evidently needed to cry at the moment. He waved Galleo off. “It’s alright, I can sort myself out.”

“Okay, I’m just going to go, then. Night.”

Orik nodded. “Thanks again for bringing Thayne in here. G’Night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading my story, it was fun writing it and seeing what folks thought of it as I posted it. Longer stories are really challenging but also rewarding.
> 
> If you're reading this in the future, I hope you enjoyed the story too.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on my Tumblr: [sbuggbot.tumblr.com](sbuggbot.tumblr.com)


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